This Week In The Business: The Good, The Bad And The Medium

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week …

QUOTE | “I do think we have to address the good and the bad our medium might do to consumers.” — Renowned designer Warren Spector, on how the game industry should take a balanced view towards what it does.

QUOTE | “I think about … where I’m going to see a lot of the most disruptive and innovative gaming, I don’t see it in the $US250 million budgeted game.” — Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski on why he thinks Steam Box and Oculus Rift will define the next-gen era of games more than PS4 and Xbox One.

QUOTE | “I think it would be really fascinating to see them create a deeply flawed and amazing woman.” — Siobhan Reddy, studio director of Little Big Planet creators Media Molecule, on GTA V.

STAT | 8.6 per cent — Drop in worldwide PC sales in the last quarter, according to the latest info from Gartner; a consumer shift to tablets was cited as the main reason despite steady business demand.

QUOTE | “It’s good to be bad.” — EA Mobile senior producer Jeff Skalski, on the attitude embodied by the re-invention of ’90s PC hit Dungeon Keeper for smartphones and tablets.

QUOTE | “Ultimately the game designer’s job is to be the advocate for the player.” — Chris Swain, head of the New York Film Academy’s game design program, on why game designers should get formal training.

QUOTE | “We also think that [Coca-Cola’s] involvement is going to help convince other sponsors.” — Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck, on the rising number of big corporations like Coca-Cola, AmEx and Nissan sponsoring eSports.

QUOTE | “The risk and the time and the cost have been going up and up and up, and that has been reset dramatically.” — Veteran designer Richard Garriott, on how Unity has improved game development.

STAT | 90 per cent — Percentage of the population of China that said they couldn’t live without a smartphone, from a study by Frank N. Magid Associates; only 43 per cent of Americans said the same thing when surveyed.

QUOTE | “They’re not just marketing partners. They’re partners in helping you optimise and tune the game experience.” — Scopely CEO Walter Driver, on the new role of game publishers in mobile games.

This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International

Image by auremar [Shutterstock]